The internet has brought with it new ways and strange ways too. Some are useful and others are not so useful. There is an explosion of knowledge; you do not have any excuse not to know.
Power is now out of the hands of traditional media; at least I like to think so. With Twitter and the 140 character limit came the age of brevity, the hash tag. I wonder whether this also accounts for the popular use of acronyms. State of the nation address is now SONA. SONA sounds like a device to detect sound. Anyway, let’s flow with the times and go with SONA.
SONA was long and loud. Last year the president was apologetic; apologizing for the “challenges of the economy”. This year however, there was no hint of apology in the president’s voice. He struck an imperious tone and droned on and on about the achievements of his government. Kufuor preferred this style too, enumerating government projects from kilometers of roads constructed to health centers built and pipelines clogged with plans.
As in previous years, there was controversy after the delivery. To put it mildly, the president has a liberal approach to truth. The version of the address distributed has been found to be different from what the president read. Several inaccuracies have since been identified in the president’s address. Nonetheless, neither the president nor his aides have found it worth their while to apologize to the nation. Rather we are invited to realign truth with Mahama’s narrative.
Mahama and his ministers love the word, “unprecedented”. I love the phrase “self-delusion”. The human mind is vulnerable to whatever a person chooses to believe. And so, in spite of the glaring poverty and the despair etched in the spirit of the nation, the president wants us to believe otherwise. Let us lay the blame at the feet of education. Perhaps, a Social Psychology degree from the Soviet Union is to blame for Mahama’s ability to manipulate the masses in a cynical way.
He knows our vulnerabilities as a people; we love praise. This 6th March, he invited the presidents of Kenya and Guinea Bissau and invoked history to remind us of our proud heritage as the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve independence. This claim, which is dubious considering that Liberia and Sudan gained independence before Ghana, tickles us like no other. Now a true statement. Since Nkrumah, all we have done has been to replace the British colonial masters with black elites. It is a game of musical chairs; we each strive and elbow one another to make it to the “elitedom”. Our struggle as a nation is neither about freedom nor justice. What is freedom and where is justice, when an honest farmer, trader or sanitation worker has no guarantee to education, health and environmental security for either themselves or their children.
Reckless borrowing means that the existence of the honest Ghanaian is taxed whilst his wealth is eroded by inflation. Mahama loves to blame everybody but himself. The Bank of Ghana was the president’s straw man at the SONA. Mahama singled out the BOG for blame concerning the microfinance crisis in parts of the Brong Ahafo Region. It was a disingenuous ploy with the aim of deflecting attacks from the government. It’s true that the BOG bears direct responsibility. The enthusiasm of the president however, to call out the BOG for bashing was dishonest. By similar measure, he should have called himself out for censure for his personal failings and those of his government.
And now about Israel. We gained independence less than a decade after the Jews had fought to establish Israel as a state. We focused on semiotics and basked in the praise of the world. Israel focused on the concrete issues; universal access to education, health and environmental sustainability. Sixty eight years later and in spite of the daily struggle to establish its legitimacy as a nation, Israel scores favourably on several socioeconomic indicators compared to other developed nations. Sixty eight years later, Israel is funding the establishment of a teaching hospital at Legon, a project the president celebrates on numerous billboards across the country. In the meantime, we continue to tickle ourselves unto hollow laughter.
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Author : Emmanuel Acheampong Adomako